Beaglemania

Table of Contents

 

“Humorous, cleverly constructed.”

—
Midwest Book Review

 

“A brilliantly entertaining new puppy caper, a doggie-filled who-done-it . . . Johnston’s novel is a real pedigree!”

—Dorothy Cannell

 

“A fabulous series.”

—
The Best Reviews

 

“Animal lovers will adore this series for the mystery as well as the animals.”

—
CA Reviews

 

“An incredible writer who creates believable, intelligent characters . . . [A] fun-filled, suspenseful story line that contains intrigue, mystery, murder, lots and lots of animals, and humor.”

—
Fresh Fiction

 

“Fast and fun.”

—
New Mystery Reader

 

“The author has done a great job of making the reader care about the animals. Plus their personalities really shine through.”

—
Mystery Lovers Corner

 

“Johnston’s ability to blend pet love, mystery, and romance into one well-wrapped package makes this a summer treat for mystery and pet lovers alike.”

—
Front Street Reviews

 

“Exciting . . . Johnston is a creative storyteller who not only writes a fascinating mystery but also creates a deep character study.”

—
Books ‘n’ Bytes

 

SIT, STAY, SLAY
NOTHING TO FEAR BUT FERRETS
FINE-FEATHERED DEATH
MEOW IS FOR MURDER
THE FRIGHT OF THE IGUANA
DOUBLE DOG DARE
NEVER SAY STY
HOWL DEADLY
FELINE FATALE

 

 

BEAGLEMANIA

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South Africa

 

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

 

BEAGLEMANIA

 

A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with the author

 

PRINTING HISTORY

Berkley Prime Crime mass-market edition / March 2011

Copyright © 2011 by Linda O. Johnston.

 

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

 

eISBN : 978-1-101-47734-2

 

BERKLEY
^®
PRIME CRIME

Berkley Prime Crime Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

BERKLEY
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PRIME CRIME and the PRIME CRIME logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

 

 

 

Conducting research for
Beaglemania
and future Pet Rescue Mysteries has been fun and rewarding, as well as eye-opening and, sometimes, sad.

There are a lot of wonderful people who gave unstinting time to answer my questions, show me around their facilities, and be generally supportive of my plan to turn Lauren Vancouver into one determined pet rescuer.

I admit to using poetic license in my writing, so any inaccuracies are mine, definitely not theirs.

I want to thank them all, including:

Detective Susan Brumagin of the LAPD, who is the head of the Los Angeles Animal Cruelty Task Force, as well as the many devoted members of her team.

Kathleen Davis, general manager of the Los Angeles Board of Animal Services Commissioners, who helped to put me in contact with others to interview.

Captain Karen Knipscheer-Cox, commanding officer of SmART, D.A.R.T., and Animal Emergency Preparedness, who showed me around an amazing, yet unopen, Los Angeles Animal Services care center, and didn’t flinch when I told her I might use her position—but not her—in my story. Also, special thanks to all the members of the Small Animal Rescue Team (SmART) who let me observe their training sessions and answered a lot of questions—especially Team Leader Armando Navarette (Nav).

Los Angeles Animal Services Officers Daniel Gonzalez and Eric Gardner, who, individually, graciously provided answers when I ran into them and started asking a lot of questions.

Thanks, too, to some amazingly dedicated, friendly, and helpful animal shelter administrators and others:

Arlene Ober, Office Coordinator, and more, of Pet Orphans of Southern California, as well as all the wonderful staff members and volunteers.

Tina Ito, Director of Administration of the Glendale Humane Society.

Ricky Whitman, Vice President of Community Resources of the Pasadena Humane Society and SPCA.

Thanks also to my excellent editor, Michelle Vega, and my incredible agent, Paige Wheeler.

This book is dedicated to animals everywhere, especially those pets who are awaiting new forever homes. I wish I could help all of you!

It’s also dedicated to those . . . well,
dedicated
animal rescuers who work hard to take care of those animals, and to help them find the right forever homes.

And, as always, to my husband, Fred, who helps keep me sane. I think. Most of the time.

I am not a killer.

At least not a killer of animals. I save their lives whenever humanly possible, especially pets. Their sole purpose on this earth is to love and be loved, like perpetual children.

People are something else.

Right now, I’d have gladly used my own hands—nice, strong ones for someone in her forties, since I do a lot of enclosure cleaning, lugging and opening of animal food containers, and other physical labor—to strangle Efram Kiley, the man who stood in front of me. His expression was the picture of innocence even as he squared his thin yet sturdy body, as if attempting to hide the filled floor-to-ceiling cages in this torture chamber of a mega shed from my view.

Impossible, considering how many there were.

He couldn’t hide the smell, either. It was awful. The caged puppies and their parents obviously had no choice but to eliminate their wastes in the same place they lived and ate and suffered. The only surface beneath them was wire mesh that undoubtedly hurt their feet. No comfy rugs or mats for them.

And the sounds. Their cries. Their barks.

The outraged comments and shouts of the three Los Angeles Animal Cruelty Task Force members who’d leaped in like superheroes to reinforce regular animal control officers, all intent on saving these poor creatures.

Efram must have read the fury in my expression. Or maybe he’d learned enough about me, in the past few months, to know what I was thinking.

He quickly turned, and before I could say anything, he’d plucked an adorable beagle puppy from one of those appalling crates and gently placed her into my arms.

What could I do but nestle the squirmy little body close to my face, stench and all? “You poor little thing,” I whispered against one of her long ears as I used my free hand to extract a small towel from the tote bag over my shoulder and wrap her in it.